Complaints about temporary foreign worker program spread

Alisha Harris worked at a Kelowna-area Dairy Queen for two years, but recently quit after she lost increasing numbers of hours to temporary foreign workers.

B.C. workers ranging from seasoned professionals to teenage fast-food employees are complaining about being dumped in favour of non-residents as Ottawa scrutinizes employers who abuse the Temporary Foreign Worker program.

Vern Doak is a crane operator with 37 years experience who lives in Vernon. In early March he was contacted by his union, who informed him that an American company, Oregon-based O & S Contracting, had work for him building a cogeneration plant near Mackenzie in north-central B.C.

O & S had been retained by Conifex Power — a division of B.C.-based Conifex Timber — to build a cogeneration plant in the area.

Doak said he heard from O & S shortly after and was told by the company he was needed for a three-month contract, starting the following week. They arranged for his accommodation.

But within a few days of Doak’s scheduled departure, a company representative told him the project was on hold due to bad weather and they would call back when things cleared up.

Doak said he waited two weeks, but heard nothing. Meanwhile, friends who were working in Mackenzie told him O & S was in full operation with a crew of eight to 10 American workers.

Representatives of O & S Contracting did not return calls Tuesday.

Brian Cochrane of the International Union of Operating Engineers said he complained to Conifex vice-president Pat Bell — a B.C. Liberal cabinet minister until April — but the situation was not resolved. The incident is now the subject of a Federal Court challenge.

Doak ended up taking a job in Saskatchewan. He said he has never seen a similar situation in his 37-year career.

In Kelowna, 18-year-old high school student Alisha Harris said she saw her hours at a local Dairy Queen franchise cut dramatically shortly after foreign workers arrived from the Philippines.

“We weren’t really sure what was going to happen until some of us wouldn’t work for months at a time. It was all-part time people from my school,” she said. “They just stop putting you on schedule and hope you’ll go away.”

Harris, who had worked at the Dairy Queen in the Okanagan Lake shopping centre in West Kelowna for two years before she quit Monday out of frustration, said she watched her hours shrink from about 30 a week to 10. When Harris asked for more, she said her requests were either ignored or she would be scheduled on days she was unable to work, such as a day she was having surgery.

“Of course I wasn’t able to come in, but they took that as me skipping out on work,” she said.

Harris said many of her part-time coworkers had similar experiences, got frustrated and left to find more reliable work.

“I was forced to quit because I’m not getting any shifts, I’m not making any money and I’m starting university pretty soon.”

She recently filed a complaint about the franchise with B.C.’s Employment Standards Branch.

Franchise owner Eric Malmsten said he is in fact short-staffed and has hired six Canadians — four full-time and two part-time students — since February. He has also hired two temporary workers from the Philippines to replace two whose contracts expire in the fall. There are seven temporary foreign workers at the franchise, he said.

But Malmsten insisted no full-time employees have lost any work to temporary foreign workers. Students typically work close to full-time in the summer and cut back their hours when they start school in the fall, he added.

“We’re not going to give them full-time hours. They’re students. Some of these kids are 15, 16 years old. They can only handle so much,” he said. “We’ve had students that wanted more hours, but those are part-time students.”

Asked if he gave the students more hours when they requested them, Malmsten said, “Most of them get a lot of hours. A lot of them have sports ... in the school season. In the springtime, right now, we don’t have enough students. I think we hired two last week and are just trying to find quality, strong students.”

Students also tend to leave such jobs for higher-paid employment elsewhere or to attend university, Malmsten added.

“We need ... base employees. We’ll top up with the students if they’re available in the summertime.”

Canadians must be careful not to direct frustrations about job displacement by foreigners against the workers themselves, who are already socially isolated, said NDP MLA Mable Elmore, who represents Vancouver-Kensington.

Often, the workers have paid thousands in recruitment fees to unscrupulous immigration consultants and are essentially indentured as they try to pay off their debts, she said, noting that it is illegal to charge recruitment fees for jobs in Canada but the law is poorly enforced.

The workers are often unaware of their rights and afraid to speak up because their Canadian residency is contingent upon working for one employer, she said.

Canada was built by immigrants who worked hard to establish a life here and raised families, Elmore said.

“That’s how my mother came to Canada and if this program was in place when she came, she wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t be here. And so this is not what Canada’s about. Canada needs immigration, needs immigrants. We don’t need more guest workers.”

The Manitoba government keeps tabs on the temporary foreign worker program by requiring employers who use the program to register provincially, which is not the case in B.C. Workers who come in through the program in Manitoba can also apply for permanent residency through the Provincial Nominee program after working for an employer for six months. B.C. has no such avenue available.

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.